Marine dealers sell those Lin it is called a joy stick switch about 80 bucks for the last one I bought, you can make a power seat or mirror switch work also

I buy the complete unit it comes with the speed controller,joy controller switch and the off and on are you sure it is not the speed controller that is dead and not the joy switch the speed controller is always my problem so I replace the panel

No the original problem is in the joy switch. It works up, down, and left, but not right. Now that I have been experimenting with it, the speed control has gone out too.

I am a bit confused by the way the joy stick works. There is a hot connection that has a copper plate going to the four sides of the switch. Then there is a wire to each side also with a diode(?) connecting each of the sets of opposite contacts. As the switch is pushed to the various positions, continuity appears between the contact and the hot source. That is all except for the rightward direction. That's why I know the joy stick is bad. I have tried spraying it with contact cleaner but it did not help. Anyway, the problem has been developing for a while.

The thing that I do not understand is that if I try to jump the hot to the individual connections to bypass the switch, instead of activating the motor, it is as if the connection goes directly to ground and pops the fuse. If anyone can explain how the system works, it would help. Obviously, the set up is not as straight forward as it appears.

Also any source for the replacement would be useful. The unit is a Ray Line made by Jasco. I will check some marine places in the AM.

Thanks Clifford. I had anticipated that the part would be hard to find but have gotten the part # now and see there are several sources for around $80 delivered. It seems a bit steep to me, but doable. I was trying to figure out the wiring thinking I might have to adapt something. Anyway, I still do not understand why I could not jump the switch. Maybe once I detach the wires from it, it will work.

Thanks Cilff-- I was thinking of some adaption like that but got really thrown off when I could not jump the failed switch without a short. I just cut one of the offending wires, and it works as it should when jumped. I guess there is something in the setup of the joy switch that grounds everything when in the neutral position. It is quite a relief to find that I am not going totally nuts!

Interesting note for anyone else with the same system. The whole control unit, it turns out is from before 1986. It is still available for around $200. All the websites that show a picture of the whole unit in the $80+ range are really just selling the directional switch for you to replace in the unit.

Man they have gone up Matt's Rayline on his Eagle was a lot newer than 1986 but I just dug the bill out for the panel from Western Marine in 2004 it was 89.78 with shipping I tried to build the panel for the light when the speed controller quit and never could make it work without the speed control the thing would just fly from side to side and up/down

I purchased the light new for 25 dollars at a close out from a marine store one a helluva deal unbelievable you can buy parts for 27 year old spot light

I came across and ordered a really cheap, 4-way toggle/joy switch. It's worth a try to see if I can fit it into the panel. I always had the speed control on high and it seemed slow enough for me. Since the old one now has quit, it will have to bypass it and go full blast. If it is too fast, I guess I can find something to put a little resistance in line.

Thanks, I did see a PDF with the parts breakdown. I did not see the wiring diagram, but since the wire I cut from the switch and tested just needed a hot source to work, assumable to be grounded at the motor, it should not be too bad. Hopefully, there will be no big surprises. The lever on the switch I ordered is way off center, so I think there will be some nuisance in making it fit though.

By the way, I was told that the old Jabsco did a lot of PDF documentation on parts, and if you do a search for, "Jabsco part number PDF", it will come up.